Drivers on Interstate 85 who cross the Lake Hartwell bridge should expect traffic delays through the end of the week as crews repair a section of the deck that failed Tuesday.

The inside southbound driving lane will be closed for the rest of this week and possibly until Monday, said Kevin McLaughlin, South Carolina district engineering administrator. The rest of the bridge is still safe to drive on, he added.

McLaughlin said it's tough to pinpoint what caused a portion of the bridge's concrete deck to fail, but said it could have been this winter's temperature shifts, coupled with the age of the bridge and traffic.

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Repair crew, SCDOT, and State Highway Patrol overseeing repair in left lane of Southbound bridge on I-85 Southbound in Anderson County on Wednesday. Also, scenes from Pendleton and Clemson University in the snow.
Ken Ruinard/Independent Mail

"It was probably exacerbated by the extreme temperatures over the winter season. As water freezes and thaws, it expands and contracts, which probably caused this thing to show itself more rapidly," McLaughlin said.

Bridge failures like this aren't all that uncommon to SCDOT.

"Unfortunately, it's very frequent, but that's what comes with having to maintain an aging system of roads and bridges," McLaughlin said.

The bridge over Lake Hartwell was built in 1962 and then widened in 1975. By today's standards, the bridge is functionally obsolete — still safe, but built on an outdated design.

McLaughlin said the bridge was already on SCDOT's radar for maintenance last fall, but other work took priority and crews wanted to wait until spring, when it's better to lay new asphalt over the concrete and rebar.

The overall cost of the repair has yet to be determined. Crews may need to come back to the project later in the spring, but the cost to replace the concrete will be about $35,000, McLaughlin said.

SCDOT keeps Lee Construction of the Carolinas on call specifically for bridge repairs. The company was called off a different bridge project and brought in to work on the I-85 Lake Hartwell bridge.